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Disclaimer, E was asked what she wanted to share about London and she said LONDON FOR KIDS but she wants you to know that she’s a “strange child” (her words, not mine!) so take her advice with a grain of salt. 😀

Whenever I’m in London I like to go to museums. Some of my favorites are: the V&A (Victoria and Albert), the Natural History, the Science Museum, and the National Art Gallery.

The V&A has lots and lots of art to appeal to everyone. They have paintings from the medieval era, the renaissance, and Georgian miniatures. They also had lots of Roman and Greek statues. There was a hallway filled with ironwork, custom made banisters, window frames, and balconies.

The Natural History has lots of cool stuff, but if you have little kids who are a bit squeamish you shouldn’t take them. It’s full of stuffed animals, not the kind you can cuddle, it gave me nightmares. Continue reading →

* Disclaimer, you need a second day in London to see the WB Studio Tour as it really is an all day thing. The studio is on the outskirts of London, you can take the underground out to Euston but then switch to the overground to get to Watford Junction (about 40 minutes from central London), then hop off and catch the shuttle bus (every 20 minutes, takes 15 minutes.) Make a day for that if you’ve got any hardcore fans with you! They do have family tickets, which can save you a bit. The shop at the end of the tour is HUGE, and if you arrive early you can go in there to browse. You are given a set “tour” time that’s not flexible, but once you get past that initial bit then you are free to explore the rest, which is self guided, until they close.

* If you are able to do a last minute trip to London, or book a billion years in advance, you can take a third day and get tickets to The Cursed Child! It’s in two parts, an afternoon matinee then you return for an evening showing for the second half. I hear it’s amazing, but NOT for little ones as it gets intense with some flying dementors.

* Millenium Bridge is fun to walk across if you don’t have little ones panicking about it being attacked by dementors like in the movie. Look both directions along the Thames and you can see where they flew on their broomsticks up the river.

* Platform 9 3/4 inside Kings Cross station has a trolley going through the wall and you can pose (for free) for a photo, including props and they’ll toss your scarf up into the air or give you posing ideas. There is a photographer there but you’re also welcome to take your own pictures. Then you can step inside the shop (it gets crowded, don’t try taking large luggage or strollers inside) to see souvenirs we’ve not seen anywhere else! You can purchase your photo there along with a Hogwarts letter, should you so desire – it’s completely no pressure, you don’t even have to set foot in the shop.

* Literally across the street is St. Pancras which they used as the outside of Kings Cross even though it’s a different train station entirely. It is prettier.

* There are other spots from the film like Tower Bridge, Westminster Underground Station, Scotland Place, or Picadilly Circus that are just quickly shown in the film and you may as well go by as they are fun for your standard London tourist photos. Well, I would do Westminster for the Big Ben shot and Tower Bridge, but Picadilly Circus is really not exciting so you can skip that. Other spots that we’ve not bothered to go by that are in the films – Lambeth Bridge, Borough Market, Australia House, Claremont Square, or the Reptile House in the London Zoo.

Because the kids aren’t in a traditional school, we can’t answer as to how most kids have extracurricular activities with school. C is starting at a new program and they told us that Tuesday is their extracurricular day… that kids can stay after for clubs for an hour to participate, which is not how it’s done stateside (with things like band or sports happening every day!) But there are community based activities like scouts, martial arts, dance, football clubs, park runs, etc. Within the home ed community there’s a TON happening – rock climbing, ice or roller skating, forest schools, National Trust hikes, cooking or art or science or robotics clubs – basically everything under the sun.

Mo says it’s the trips that she loves most as extracurricular activities – daytrips around the area to the abbeys, overnight trips to places like Dover, and the bigger trips to Paris or Athens.

Though admittedly, we’re an oddball bunch because we’re not attending a community public school. The kids are able to do activities during the standard school day (like field trips to watch them make pizza at a cafe in city centre, or touring the local fire station, or the chocolate factory up the road.) There are still weekly clubs and sports and such, but those are in the evenings or weekends.

Because I lived in Ansbach for four years as a kid we focused around that area when we made our visit in 2017, but there’s so much to explore every direction! We rented an AirBnB house in a tiny village that was central to most of the spots we wanted to visit – it was a lovely house and a sweet, friendly little town. There wasn’t a grocery store in town, but you’ll need to rent a car in this area and there are shops in the nearby towns. We spent a few days in three different spots (Heidelberg, Salzburg, Ansbach area) but Bavaria won their hearts so we plan to return there in spring 2019 for some more exploring.

By far the kids’ favorite part was the swimbads, we found one in each place we stayed. Second was the hauptstrasses in the various cities/towns, and stopping to get pretzels and treats at the bakeries. Third was the residences and castles. Here are some links of the various spots they’re saying they loved best:

Nurnburg Castle – Despite living nearby for years, I’ve not actually visited this spot yet!

Wurzburg Residence (I’ve not taken the kids there yet, but I loved it and went several times as a kid and will take them next trip.)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Our kids could happily have spent all day long wandering this town! They loved walking through the walls and market square, and there’s a playground with a great view and good picnic spot just outside the walls.

Berchestgaden Salt Mines – Buy your tickets online in advance! And if you’re coming from Germany you’ll go through the edge of Austria – buy your road pass for the tolls at a gas station in advance or you’ll get a fine as soon as you cross onto the Austrian roads.

Salzburg if you’re already down that far south, it’s a lovely city for walking around and there are spots to picnic in the garden if you’re a Sound of Music Fan. 🙂

* Heidi says the croissants from this bakery in Paris, which were like a toffee/nut/chocolate something? They were AMAZING, like I ate one and immediately walked back to the shop for a second one and we’re already planning to go there for breakfast every morning when we visit Paris again.

* And also H, curry. I’ve eaten some of the most fantastic, spicy, amazing, delicious curries here. I had curry before, but the variety here has me hooked. Continue reading →

I asked friends for questions about the UK for my kids to answer as part of their writing work. When they were shouting out responses in rapid fire I typed those, but then I had the kids take over writing for themselves. 🙂

* Popular dishes? Are the stereotypical British foods that we hear about here (in the US) actually popular?

The oldest two are on campus down in city centre and go out for lunch with friends most days. They say NOT fish and chips. It’s offered at places everywhere, but the teens don’t all like it. (Disclaimer – they love the chips! Not the fish so much.) Their friends often pick up convenience foods from the little shops and grocers, like ready made sandwiches. KFC & McDonalds are BIG here, as are Subway and Burger King. Jacket potatoes from the cafeteria or there are jacket potato food trucks. Sausage rolls from the bakeries are big – something like an american breakfast sausage but bigger, like a bratwurst, wrapped in puff pastry. Adult insert – curries are huge for take away. There are several “tortilla” restaurants down in the city, but they call them wraps instead of tortillas and are varying degrees of good. There are also Greek, Thai, ramen shops, Jamaican, Chinese but not as many as the curry places. Continue reading →

Okay… the sun is back, I walked around without a coat today, the flowers are blooming (though that started in January. I do love that the bulbs start popping up so early, this tantalizing reminder that spring is coming.) I can feel my brain recovering from the winter hibernation.

Over the winter I was gone four weeks, two in Nov/Dec and two in February, to help my sister with her newborn twins in Colorado. Having the back and forth, stateside to UK, made the contrast more apparent… that the US doesn’t feel like “home” in the same way. I think it made returning to England feel different, more settled, less like a guest in a foreign country. Continue reading →

Oh, the story behind trying to find a photographer here has been long and challenging… but worth it, because we found & fell in love with Magda’s work and love every photo she captured for us. Kit picked the spot (Newstead Abbey) as our family has spent many days happily exploring up there, and it’s gorgeous anytime of year. Here you go… my sweet people. (Click on thumbnails to see the larger images.) If you’re local here’s our delightful photographer, MagdaK.

* In Texas I would eat Tex-mex of some variety at least weekly. (I probably still do here, just minus the corn tortillas.) But here I eat curry at least weekly. The Pakistani and Indian community centre luncheons are my favorite, but I’ve also been fortunate to learn how to make some dishes from friends sharing their culinary expertise.

* Grocery delivery is so, so wonderful. For a £1 delivery fee they bring it right to your door, and you don’t tip (I offered a few times, they always declined.) But despite this, I still hit the grocery store at least weekly – there are little shops every few blocks, three are a quick walk from our house, so it’s easy to pop in and get fresh produce or other perishables. Continue reading →

Welcome to our little corner of the world! I’m Heidi, I’m married to Kit, we have six little ones keeping us busy ranging in ages from 16 down through 7. They’re adorable and amazing and wonderful!

In 2005 our third child decided to show up four months early at a whopping 22 ounces and give us a good scare. This blog was created to keep family and friends updated through our 4 months in the hospital. You can read a bit about his NICU story here. He started a wish list of places he would like to see and things he would like to do before his eyesight declines further, an anticipated complication due to his early arrival.

Over a couple year stretch of time we began working on that wish list and being blessed in countless ways by friends, family, our community, and complete strangers as Ben tackles this challenge with his typical passion. So thank you, whoever you may be! We’re glad you came by and we welcome your comments and messages. Continue reading →